Stuart Nathan

Your questions answered: Thames Estuary Airport

In-Depth

Our expert panel answers your questions on plans to build a Thames estuary airport. Stephen Harris reports

Thames Estuary airport is back on the agenda, thanks to opposition to expanding Heathrow and enthusiasm from the mayor of London, Boris Johnson. As the government’s Airports Commission considers the best way of expanding the UK’s air travel capacity (although they’re mainly looking at south-east England), we put your questions to two of the
teams who have put forward proposals for a new hub in the Thames Estuary.

• The Thames Reach Airport consortium has been working for more than 10 years on plans for a privately funded £29bn two-to-four-runway airport on reclaimed land on the Hoo peninsular that would also include the Metrotidal project to build a tunnel under the estuary providing new road and rail loops, flood defences and tidal energy generation.

• Architecture firm Foster + Partners has proposed building a privately funded £24bn four-runway ‘Thames Hub’ airport on a raised platform on the Isle of Grain in the model of its artificial island airport in Hong Kong, linked to London via several rail lines, including HS1 and Crossrail.

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